The Fourth Sunday of Great Lent and the Gift of Saint John Climacus (Archimandrite George Kapsanis)

By Archimandrite George Kapsanis

Our Lord, the leader of our faith and the founder and head of our Church, has taken care and is taking care that His Christians, His faithful, have proper spiritual guidance for the life in Christ. For this reason, He has raised up within the Church many Spirit-bearing and God-bearing teachers, who, with the illumination of the Holy Spirit, teach us the life in Christ. Among these great teachers of our faith is Saint John the Sinaite, the author of the "Ladder", whose memory we celebrate today.

He himself struggled as a monk, as a coenobite, and as an abbot. He succeeded in climbing – with struggle, of course – the steps of theosis, starting from the first stages of the spiritual life and reaching the highest, which is perfect love for God and people and union with God and theosis.

March: Day 30: Teaching 2: Venerable John Climacus

March: Day 30: Teaching 2:
Venerable John Climacus
 
(The Degrees of Moral Perfection)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

I. From his youth, the now celebrated Saint John Climacus loved the Lord and, despite the flattering hopes inspired by his natural talents and extensive education, he left the world and withdrew far from his homeland to Sinai, to free himself through pilgrimage from many obstacles to spiritual life, and in the chosen place to have a clear indication of what and where he should seek.

Having thus laid a good foundation, he from the very moment of entering the monastery wholeheartedly surrenders himself to the experienced mentor and places himself in such a state as if his soul had neither its own reason nor its own will. By suppressing in himself excessive self-confidence and self-will, he soon frees himself from the pride typical of gifted individuals, acquires heavenly simplicity, and becomes perfect in the works and virtues of obedience.

March: Day 30: Teaching 1: Venerable John Climacus

March: Day 30: Teaching 1:
Venerable John Climacus
 
(Moral Lessons From His Life)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

I. Saint John Climacus, whose memory is celebrated today, upon reaching the age of 16, preferred to offer himself entirely as a most sacred sacrifice to God, and for that purpose, retired to Mount Sinai, where he submitted himself to the obedience of Elder Martyrios. Four years after joining the monastery, he received the angelic schema. His obedience to the elder was so profound that he seemed to have no will of his own. In his dealings with the brethren, he was very simple, and although he was highly educated and learned, he behaved in such a manner that he did not display his advantages over others. He lived with the elder for nineteen years until the end of his life, and after the elder's death resolved to live in solitude, but not before receiving the consent of Saint George the Arselaites for this. He chose a desert as the place for his solitude and settled in a secluded part of the valley at the foot of Mount Sinai.

March: Day 29: Venerable Mark the Confessor, Bishop of Arethusa

March: Day 29:
Venerable Mark the Confessor, Bishop of Arethusa
 
(The Christian Faith is the Only True, Grace-filled and Saving Faith)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

I. Saint Mark, whose memory is celebrated today, was zealous in upholding the faith and piety as a bishop in the city of Arethusa in Syria. Taking advantage of the favorable attitude towards Christians of Emperor Constantine the Great, who gave some bishops, among other things, the right to destroy pagan temples, he destroyed the temple that was in the city of Arethusa. For this Bishop Mark suffered cruelly later, when the pagans again came into power under the apostate Emperor Julian.

By virtue of the decree issued by Julian that the idolatrous temples destroyed by Christians should be rebuilt by those who destroyed them, money was demanded from Bishop Mark, then already elderly and revered by all for his holy life, for the restoration of the temple destroyed by him during the reign of Constantine. The elder answered that he had no money, but that even if he had, he would not have given anything for the restoration of the temple. At the same time, he did not allow other Christians to contribute money for themselves, who wished to save the elder from the tortures to which he could be subjected for resisting the authorities who demanded the execution of the emperor's decree.

Papa-Demetrios Gagastathis Unanimously Proposed for Sainthood by the Holy Synod of the Church of Greece

The Sacred Metropolis of Trikki, Gardiki and Pyli announced with deep emotion that the Permanent Holy Synod of the Church of Greece, during its session on March 11, 2025, unanimously accepted the proposal for the classification of the late Protopresbyter Demetrios Gagastathis in the Hagiological Registery of the Church, and submitted a relevant request to His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew.

The official synodal document states:

 

A submitted request of His Eminence Metropolitan of Trikki, Gardiki and Pyli, Mr. Chrysostomos.

It was decided to inscribe in the Hagiological Registery of the Church the priest Demetrios Gagastathis, a man universally acknowledged by the fullness of Christians for his holiness and Orthodox life.

January 29, the day of his repose, was designated as his day of commemoration.

Papa-Demetri, as the people affectionately called him, was a priest of prayer, humility and unceasing ministry.

The fame of his holiness remains alive, and a multitude of believers continue to resort to his prayers.

The Sacred Metropolis of Trikki, Gardiki and Pyli, with prayer and reverence, awaits the decision of the Mother Church, through His All-Holiness the Ecumenical Patriarch, for the official inscription of the blessed priest among the Saints.

With deep emotion,

+ Chrysostomos of Trikki, Gardiki and Pyli

 

Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos.